Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff

The theme of the week; There's a lot to like about Lowell.

Maybe we’re not Boston, but where else in the Massachusetts, or the United States for that matter, can you find so many entertainment options in a city this size? Most big cities dwarf their surrounding areas, gobbling up all the events and leaving nothing but small-time local or school alternatives for residents who don’t want to deal with the hustle and bustle of a metropolis.

Those of us who turn to the sports pages first have it even better, a point driven home while reading a pair of articles about the Lowell Men’s City Golf Tournament in Sunday’s Sun. Despite being contested for the 82nd time, “The Cities” never grows old. And though it’s steeped in tradition, the tourney keeps up with modern times by chronicling that history on a dedicated website at www.lowellcitiesgolf.com.

Web surfers get an added bonus this year when yours truly packs up the laptop Wednesday and heads over to Vesper Country Club. If you can’t sneak away from the home or office but want up-to the minute final round updates, this is the place to be. The best part is you can interact with me by offering your questions or thoughts in the “comments” section and I’ll be more than happy to chat.

Back to the task at hand; all those wonderful sports options we have around these parts. I’m curious about which team or event is your favorite. So I’ve set up a poll question. Because of space limitations, I left out Nor’easter football and high school sports. Nothing against them. You’re more than welcome to launch a write-in campaign if you wish, but I figure the other seven entries deserve a higher ranking because they compete at a higher level.

Now then, because I’m not one to keep an opinion to myself, how about I offer up my personal favorite while running down the list of contenders;

The New England Collegiate Baseball League features a good brand of baseball, but the Lowell All-Americans have too much competition from another local diamond entry to bat any higher than 7th on this list. Ditto for the New England Riptide, who might climb a few spots if they could just convince Jenny Finch to show up at Martin Field.

The Lowell Devils play at the highest competitive level in town, but unless they liven up the atmosphere at Tsongas Arena, they’ll stay in 5th, a spot ahead of the UMass-Lowell sports teams, who make up for whatever they lack in attendance with the occasional tournament appearance or national championship. My show horse in this trifecta is the aforementioned City Golf Tournament, which features a growing stable of young studs who make the game look easy.

This is where it gets tricky. The Lowell Spinners provide an opportunity to catch future members of the Red Sox in action, and the Ripken-esque streak of consecutive sellouts is testament to their wild popularity. My hunch is they win the voting, though they’ll have to settle for runner-up status on this ballot.

Why, you ask? Because I’m a sucker for boxing’s electric atmosphere. The Golden Gloves may currently lack the star local attractions of the glory days, but even a bout between a pair of no-names has the entire crowd on its feet when the combatants let loose in a flurry of flying fists. If you’ve been there for one of those donnybrooks, you know there isn’t a sporting event in the city that matches it.

Your list may vary, and I’m sure you’ll be more than happy to tell me why. But there’s one thing we can’t argue about; When it comes to quality sporting events, you don’t have to stray far from home.

Lowell is as big city as it gets.